It was Jessica Wallace’s best year on the Symetra Tour and it will also be her last. Wallace, a former Team Canada Amateur Squad member (2011) who has spent the past four and half years chasing her professional golfing dream, has decided to step away from the game she loves.

“It’s something that has been in the back of my mind for a couple of years,” says Wallace, the two-time B.C. Junior Girls champion from Langley. “I have always been someone who has had a backup plan in my head even through I had my primary goal. I have always been thinking what would I like to do outside of golf.”

Wallace has decided to step away despite recently completing her best year on the Symetra Tour. She finished 19th on the 2016 money list and had four top-10 finishes. She was exempt to this week’s final stage of the LPGA Tour’s qualifying school in Florida, but decided to stay home.

The former Canadian Women’s Tour champion is aiming to become a certified professional accountant. She’ll make the transition from a strong academic background, earning scholastic all-American honours while playing golf for the University of Colorado.

This was not a snap decision. She has been weighing her career options for a couple of years now. “I almost went to law school last year but I was playing well so I kept going,” she says.

“And then this year I was maybe going to take a job in March or April but I finished second in the opening event so I had to play out the year because I needed to see where I could take myself.”

The decision to give up on her professional dream was not an easy one for Wallace. She has improved in each of the four years she spent on the Symetra Tour and still believes she has the game to play on the LPGA Tour.

But she also knows that making the LPGA Tour and playing well enough to succeed long term out there are two different matters. “My game has improved every year and I feel like the level I got to this year has been the best that I have brought thus far,” she says.

“For me, I was thinking more of a long-term type thing. Do I believe I am good enough to play on the LPGA Tour? Absolutely. I believe I could get there, I believe I could be a member of that tour. But the reality for women’s golf is if you are not top 50 on the money list on the LPGA year in and year out it is not necessarily something that is a feasible long-term thing if you want to have stability, save up for your retirement and stuff like that.”

So Wallace made the same decision her older brother, Darren, did a couple of years ago when he hung up his clubs after struggling on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada circuit. Darren, who won the 2004 Canadian Amateur Championship as a 15-year-old and enjoyed a successful collegiate career at the University of Washington, is now working in the banking industry.

The circumstances of their departures are somewhat different, however. Darren was struggling with his game and had lost his status on the Mackenzie Tour when he left the game. Jessica was playing well. She finished third in the Symetra Tour’s second to last event of the year.

“I don’t feel disappointed or feel like I am being forced out of my sport,” she says. “It’s hard when you are in a situation and you play poorly and maybe you lose your card. But because I played well I feel like this is completely my choice. I feel a lot better about doing it that way.”

Wallace acknowledges there is lots she will miss about professional golf. For starters, she made countless friends along the way as she criss-crossed the United States in her trusty 1997 Toyota.

“There are so many players, volunteers and families I have met over the years,” she says “The competition is probably the thing I would miss the most because that is what wakes you up in the morning to play. When you stop playing professionally you are not going to find that competition that you used to have.

I will always have those relationships that I have built, because you keep in touch with people, but the competitive part – the putt to win a tournament – those are the things I have never been able to replicate outside a tournament.”

The money on the Symetra Tour is not big – Wallace made about $42,000 US this year – so players do their best to travel as cheaply as possible. Wallace often stayed with host families that opened up their homes to her during tournament week.

“There are families I have stayed with four years and even if a tournament isn’t playing there anymore and I am passing through I will stop in and say hi and visit them anyway. One of the really unique things of playing on the Symetra Tour is meeting those people.”

What she won’t miss nearly so much is the grind of professional golf and being away from home for months at a time. “The lifestyle is unique and it is fun, but it can also be very draining at times. I think it is one of those things that you will but won’t miss at the same time.

I am sure I will go back and forth on missing and not missing it in terms of packing up my life and not having a home for the summer or just constantly living out of a suitcase. There are 23 to 25 events a year. I was on the road from March ’til October and I enjoy home, I enjoy being back in B.C. That was something I always missed when I was gone.”

So Wallace is home and feeling good about her decision. What is surprising is that her Toyota, with nearly 300,000 kilometers on it, also made it home. “It’s really funny because occasionally at tournaments another player or caddie would come up to me and ask me how my car has been running or something like that,” she says with a laugh.

“I got it exported out of the U.S. and imported back into Canada and it passed all the tests coming back. It’s amazing it is still a functional car.”

While Wallace is saying goodbye to professional golf, she insists the game will remain a big part of her life. She has already played a couple of rounds with her parents since being back home.

“It is something I enjoy doing and I think there is something to be said about being able to go out and play and not have it matter whether I hit a shot exactly the way I want to. I am still competitive, but it will be easier to let go of those bad shots. And if it is raining or cold, I don’t have to go to the range right now.”

NASSAU, Bahamas – This might be one time that Tiger Woods doesn’t measure success on the golf course by the score on his card.

He measured it with three words Tuesday: “I’m playing again.”

There were times during his 15 months away from golf that Woods wasn’t entirely sure that would be the case. He said that when he was at the Hero World Challenge last year, he needed help just to climb out of bed. At an outdoor party at Albany Golf Club, he would mingle for a few minutes and then sit on a stone bench.

He spent more time looking back than looking forward, saying at one point that anything else he achieved in golf would be “gravy.”

And now he can’t wait to get started on Thursday.

The 15-month break to heal following back surgeries is the longest he has been away from golf. Woods was a mixture of optimism and reality about his return. He talked about having all the shots he needs to compete against a field that includes 17 players from the top 40 and Woods, the tournament host who is at a career-low No. 898. He is playing, so he said he wants to win. The outlook is no different.

He also noted that Bubba Watson won last year at 25-under par, and it probably will take something around that to win.

“I know that’s a tall order since I’ve been away from the game for so long and I’ve made a lot of different changes in my game,” he said. “Physically and also equipment, practice schedules, training, all that has evolved. The mindset of competing hasn’t. That is to go out there and try to beat these guys.”

He still is working with swing coach Chris Como, whom he brought on two years ago. Now that Nike is out of the equipment business, Woods is using a TaylorMade driver and fairway metals, a Bridgestone golf ball and his old Scotty Cameron putter that he used to win all but one of his 14 majors.

But it starts with playing.

“Put it this way: It’s a lot better situation this year than last,” Woods said. “I just couldn’t get out of bed. I needed help. It was a tough, tough time. You asked me then, ‘Could I play?’ No. I can’t even get out of bed. How am I supposed to swing a club at 120 miles an hour? That’s just two different worlds.”

The Hero World Challenge, which he started in 1999 to benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation, is effectively a holiday tournament for golf’s elite that has no cut and pays $1 million to the winner. It feels so much bigger this year because of Woods.

Over the last year, he played five holes to open his new golf course, Bluejack National, outside Houston. And he took three swings with a wedge on the par-3 10th hole at Congressional during a day to promote the Quicken Loans National. All three went in the water.

Everyone is curious to see how he plays. That includes Woods.

His biggest concern is how far his shots will go because he hasn’t played with any adrenaline since the final round of the Wyndham Championship on Aug. 23, 2015. He doesn’t know how his game will stack up against players he watched at Hazeltine when he was an assistant captain at the Ryder Cup.

His previous long break from golf was eight months when he had reconstructive surgery on his left knee after winning the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, the last of his 14 major titles. He won his opening match in the Match Play Championship and won two tournaments later at Bay Hill.

That was a knee. This is a back.

He was 33, not a month away from turning 41. And that was long before any chaos in his personal life.

Asked what he would expect to feel Thursday at Albany Golf Club, Woods said, “I’ll let you know then, because I don’t know right now.”

“Yeah, there’s nerves, of course, because I care. I care about what I do out there,” he said. “I want to win, and I want to place the ball in the correct spots, give myself the best angles and bury these putts. Trying to figure that out, yeah, there’s nerves.”

Woods often talks about the “process” when he’s changing his swing. This was a different kind of process. It starts with hitting golf balls at home, then playing a practice round at home, and then bringing that game out to a tournament, competing and eventually getting into contention.

“Right now, I haven’t even competed yet, so I’m at the beginning stages of that,” he said.

Jack Nicklaus spoke Tuesday morning at the HSBC Business Forum in Florida and talked about how golf wasn’t nearly as important to him as competing. That’s something to which Woods can relate. What he said he missed was the competition, whether on tour or at home with friends.

“But the bigger the stage,” Woods said, “the more fun for me.”

OTTAWA – The National Allied Golf Associations (NAGA) took to Parliament Hill to conduct their National Golf Day and meeting with Parliamentarians to discuss the business of golf in Canada.

“Golf is one of Canada’s most beloved sports with more people playing the game than any other sport,” said Scott Simmons, NAGA Chair and Golf Canada CEO. “There are an estimated 5.7 million Canadian golfers and there are 2,400 golf courses and practice ranges in Canada and the industry contributes more than $14 billion to the GDP per year.”

While golf continues to be a favourite pastime for Canadians, it’s important to note that the small businesses involved in the golf industry have felt the impact of the weak economy over the past several years. Both participation rates and employment have significantly decreased. The outdated federal tax legislation ‎that places all golf businesses at an unfair competitive disadvantage can no longer be sustained.

“Golf is the most effective option for business people investing in client relations to generate sales and employment” states Jeff Calderwood, CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada. “The income tax act properly allows for those necessary expenses applied to all competing industries such as restaurants, concerts, spectator sports, all other participation sports, theatre, concerts and more. But client golf is not permitted due to a 45 year old section of the Act that was written at a time when golf was a small niche market for the wealthy. It’s now 2016 and golf is not only the most popular participation sport but also the most valuable client entertainment option for businesses.”

To avoid this unfair disadvantage on such an important small business industry, the same 50% deduction must be applied to expenses incurred when taking client guests to the golf course. This will not include golf memberships. Calderwood notes that the expression “more business done on the golf course than in the boardroom” is well known due to the effectiveness of client golf. “But we can only provide those benefits if the Income Tax Act allows us an equal opportunity to all other industries”.

“The Minister of Finance is currently engaged in a review of Canada’s tax expenditures, to ensure that they are fair and effective,” concluded Calderwood. “Our recommendation is for just that: fairness. Current tax law imposes a significant burden on our industry which is already hurting from weak economic growth. We are a collection of small businesses who are simply asking to be treated fairly.”

On June 1, Mr. Tilson, MP for Dufferin — Caledon, introduced a Private Member’s Bill which would allow businesses who are entertaining clients on the golf course the same 50% deduction enjoyed by competing hospitality industries.

Winter Park, Fla. – Global Golf Post today announced its men’s and women’s amateurs of the year for 2016, as well as its fourth annual All-Amateur teams for men and women.

Three-time British Seniors Amateur champion Chip Lutz was selected as the male Amateur of the Year, while UCLA senior Bronte Law was named the female Amateur of the Year. Lutz is an American, while Law is from England.

“Each fall, The Post labors to find the two players who epitomize the best of the amateur game: a man and woman whose legacy is an inspiration for others,” The Post’s Steve Eubanks wrote for the magazine’s Nov. 28 edition. “Lutz won his third British Seniors Amateur championship in August and followed it up with a low-amateur finish at the U.S. Senior Open … Law became the only player other than Stacy Lewis to win 5 points in one Curtis Cup. She also charged from seven shots back to win the European Ladies’ Amateur and then made the cut in the Ricoh Women’s British Open. Law put an exclamation point on her summer by capturing the deciding point for England in the European Ladies’ Amateur Team Championships, the first victory for England in that event in 23 years.”

In addition, The Post unveiled its fourth All-Amateur selections for men and women in the amateur, mid-amateur, and senior amateur categories. A total of 201 players from 29 countries were recognized for on-course excellence in 2016.

“Amateur golf is a part of the DNA of The Post,” said founder and publisher Jim Nugent. “We take great pride and similar joy in supporting the amateur game, globally.”

Amongst the 178 players worldwide selected for the awards, nine Canadians were recognized at the amateur, mid-amateur and senior amateur levels.

Here is a list of the Canadians and their respective categories:

Men’s Amateur:

• Jared du Toit – Kimberly, B.C. (Honourable Mention)
• Hugo Bernard – Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., (Honourable Mention)

Men’s Mid-Amateur:

• Garrett Rank – Elmira, Ont. (First-Team)
• Kevin Carrigan – Victoria, B.C. (Honourable Mention)

Women’s Mid-Amateur:

• Christina Proteau – Port Alberni, B.C. (Second Team)
• Shelly Stouffer – Nanoose Bay, B.C. (Second Team)

Men’s Senior:

• David Schultz – Calgary (Honourable Mention)

Women’s Senior:

• Judith Kurinis – Thornhill, Ont., (First-Team)
• Helene Chartrand – Pincourt, Qué. (Honourable Mention)

To see the entire award winners list, click here.

NASSAU, Bahamas – Tiger Woods has gone through two back surgeries since he last played a golf tournament 15 months ago. He had another back surgery that knocked him out of the Masters for the first time in 2014. He had four knee surgeries before that.

None of that matters to Ernie Els when Woods returns to competition this week.

Els is more curious about what’s going on in his head.

“The talent’s there. It’s been proven. It doesn’t go away,” Els said. “It’s what you think of yourself. It’s what you think where you are. We look at this great player, but he’s not seeing the same stuff in his own mind. A lot of us are like that. When you’ve achieved as much as he has … it’s a shock to the system not to play as good as you have been. To look at other people looking at you like, ‘Hey, you’re not the same guy,’ that’s hard to take.”

Els, perhaps more than any other player, has a deep golfing connection with Woods.

He was the player Woods sought out 20 years ago at Royal Lytham & St. Annes when deciding whether to turn pro. They had so many meaningful battles, and Woods almost always got the better of him. Els was runner-up to Woods seven times, the most of any player.

Els designed the Albany golf course where Woods comes back from the longest layoff of his career. He plans to be in the Bahamas, and he is as eager as anyone else to see how a guy who won 79 times on the PGA Tour, including 14 majors, stacks up against a generation that grew up in awe of how Woods played golf.

The Hero World Challenge is a holiday tournament with an 18-man field and no cut. Even so, it commands as much attention as any tournament this year. Woods has been a star attraction his entire career, and the appetite is even stronger after an absence that dates to Aug. 23, 2015.

“I can’t wait to watch, either, just to see him play,” Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III said. “The last time I saw him play, I won. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long. I’ve seen his swing. I’ve seen him on video. He’s sent me clips, and I’ve heard the description of how he feels. I’m excited to see him play.”

“You’ve got to start somewhere,” he added. “And I want to see the start.”

Woods already has had one false start. He signed up to play the Safeway Open, only to pull out three days later because he said he felt “vulnerable.” That followed a week as assistant captain at the Ryder Cup, and cramming in practice the week before with results that made him want to wait.

Love won the Wyndham Championship last year in August at age 51, and it could easily have served as a model for Woods – a power player no longer in his prime, not among the biggest hitters anymore, but with enough experience and talent to find a way to score and to win.

“It has to motivate him that Vijay Singh is lasting until 53, that Ernie is still competitive, that Davis is still competitive,” Love said. “He knows Jack Nicklaus won the Masters in 1986 playing part-time. He knows what everybody has done. I know he’s working hard not to come back and be average. He wants to come back and win again.”

That might be expecting too much, way too soon.

Woods hasn’t won a tournament since his seven-shot victory in the Bridgestone Invitational in 2013, the year he won five times and was PGA Tour player of the year. He hasn’t had a serious chance at winning since his tournament three years ago when it was at Sherwood Country Club. Zach Johnson holed a wedge from the drop zone to force a playoff, and won when Woods missed a 5-foot putt in the playoff.

No other player has ever faced so much scrutiny, especially now.

“I won’t be able to turn the TV on, or the radio on, or look at my phone without knowing what he shot,” Jim Furyk said. “The expectations are so high. … Every pitch shot, every putt, every 3-footer, it’s not under public scrutiny like he has. I guess you live by the sword, die by the sword. That’s why he’s Tiger Woods. It’s a tough situation.”

Woods said his health had nothing to do with pulling out of the Safeway Open, and Els believes him. He says Woods is in better shape than some players in their 20s. Then again, he has accumulated plenty of emotional baggage over the last several years, on and off the golf course.

“They physical side is not an issue. It’s the other side that’s an issue, whatever is blocking him,” Els said. “But you’ve got to get on the horse. You can’t be standing on the sidelines. You’ve got to get out there. … Hopefully, he plays well, really, for his own goodness, his own sake, his own mental sake. If he plays well, it would be great. He’ll have hope and start a good schedule. If it goes the other way, he’s behind the 8-ball again.”

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. – The LPGA Tour will host the Final Stage of its Qualifying Tournament this week (November 30 – December 4), where nine Canadians will be among the 157 player-field competing for 20 full LPGA Tour cards and 25 partial cards.

The ladies will alternate over the first four rounds between the Jones and Hills courses at LPGA International. There will be a cut to the top 70 and ties after the fourth round. The final-round will be contested on the Hills course. Play will begin at 8 a.m. all five days.

Players that finish in the top 20 – no ties – will earn LPGA Tour status in category 12 on the 2017 priority list while those that finish 21 through 45 – including ties – will earn status in category 17. Players that finish a minimum of 72 holes, but don’t earn LPGA Tour status, will receive Symetra Tour status in category E on the Symetra Tour priority list.

Although the most significant prize is leaving with a 2017 Tour card, there is a $50,000 purse and the medalist will earn $5,000.

This coming week is the culmination of a three-stage Qualifying Tournament process that started in late August with Stage I in Rancho Mirage, California. A total of 92 players advanced out of Stage I to Stage II, which was held in October in Venice, Florida. A total of 84 players passed through Stage II to get to where we are now.

A total of 36 players have made it through to Final Stage from Stage I.

There are 10 players who will retain amateur status into Final Stage. If an amateur finishes in the top 20, she must declare a change in her status to professional following the final-round in order to obtain LPGA Tour status.

The field features 78 players representing the United States and 79 international players from 32 different countries. Canada has the most representatives with nine followed by England with seven and both Thailand and the Philippines have six players apiece.

Canadians in the field include:

• Jennifer Ha (Calgary)
• Augusta James (Bath, Ont.)
• Sara-Maude Juneau (Fossambault-sur-le-Lac, Que.)
• Lorie Kane  (Charlottetown)
• Jennifer Kirby (Paris, Ont.)
• Brittany Marchand (Orangeville, Ont.)
• Megan Osland (Kelowna, B.C.)
• Samantha Richdale (Kelowna, B.C.)
• Anne-Catherine Tanguay (Quebec City)

Pitt Meadows, B.C., product Justin Shin finished 9^th on the PGA Tour China’s Order of Merit to become the latest Canadian to earn a spot in Web.com Tour’s third and final stage of qualifying in December.

The former Team Canada Amateur Squad member finished with a share of ninth this past weekend at PGA Tour China’s Buick Open, bringing his season earnings total to $362,118 through 13 events.

As one of the Top-10 this season on PGA Tour China, Shin will join nine fellow Canadians who will tee-it-up in the final stage from Dec. 8-11 at the Orange County National in Winter Garden, Fla. After three consecutive years at PGA National Resort and Spa, the final stage will relocate to Orange County once more, with participants playing 36 holes at both the Crooked Cat and Panther Lake courses.

Competitors will be fighting to finish inside the Top-45 (plus ties) in order to guarantee starts for the first portion of the 2017 season. The medallist will earn fully-exempt status for the 2017 campaign—Canada’s Adam Svensson took home the honours last year by a seven-stroke margin.

Canadians competing in final stage of Web.com qualifying school:

• Ryan Yip (Calgary)
• Aaron Cockerill (Teulon, Man.)
• Seann Harlingten (Vancouver)
• Ben Silverman (Thornhill, Ont.)
• Lucas Kim (Toronto, Ont.)
• Justin Shin (Pitt Meadows, B.C.)
• Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.)
• Adam Cornelson (Langley, B.C.)
• Michael Gligic (Kitchener, Ont.)
• Austin Connelly (Irving, Tex. | Clare, N.S.)

Click here for the full field.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Denmark fought off a three-pronged attack to win golf’s World Cup at Kingston Heath on Sunday.

Soren Kjeldsen and Thorbjorn Olesen held their nerve after a four-shot overnight lead was threatened by China, France and Sweden.

The pair combined superbly in the best-ball format for a closing 6-under 66 to finish on 20-under 268, four shots clear of France (63), China (65) and the United States (66) in a three-way tie for second.

Kjeldsen and Olesen took turns to nail critical birdie putts every time the lead was whittled back.

“Our mental strength is keeping calm and playing our own game. I wasn’t too worried, I thought the birdies would come on the back nine and they did,” Olesen said.

Chinese duo Ashun Wu and Haotong Li crept within one stroke early on the back nine before Kjeldsen holed a birdie putt to restore the buffer. Victor Dubuisson’s birdie at the par-three 15th propelled France to just one shot back. And this time Olesen answered with a 7-foot putt, playing three holes behind the French, to ward off the leaderboard danger.

While Kjeldsen and Olesen weren’t threatened by US pair Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker, Sweden’s Alex Noren and David Lingmerth did move to within a shot – after firing a brilliant 10-under 62 to eventually finish fifth at 15-under. But nobody could catch the Danes.

Olesen’s hot putter delivered birdies at Nos. 13, 14 and 15 to restore the leaderboard buffer. He also rolled in a curling 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

“The psychology (of a team) is really interesting to me. When you get a guy like this, on the back nine you feel you want to die for this guy,” Kjeldsen said of Olesen. “I’ve never felt that before and that team thing is amazing.”

In golf terms, the Danish pair formed an odd couple. Olesen loves to keep check of leaderboards around the course and Kjeldsen tries to avoid them.

“We play different games, we don’t talk much and just play our shots and that’s helpful,” Olesen said.

Sweden, who started the fourball final round nine shots back, could only ponder what might have been with a more polished foursomes effort than the tardy third round 73.

“We really played quite solid (on Saturday) and ended up bogeying a couple of the last four holes. So, 1-over yesterday could have been a couple under and we would have really been in the mix. But finishing on a good note today, we’re not going to dwell on the last few days. It has been a fun week,” Lingmerth said.

Italy’s Francesco Molinari and Matteo Manassero reeled off an 8-under 64, but they were just too far back to get a glimpse of the leaders.

“We gave ourselves a lot of birdie chances and it could have been a really low one. It was a low one with a good finish, so we’re happy about that,” Manassero said.

“Obviously, Francesco gave me the opportunity to play and we had a lot of fun. I think this is a great format and, obviously, you’re representing your country.”

Host nation Australia at least gave their home galleries a sub-par salute in a polished round built on several pinpoint approach shots from Marc Leishman before Adam Scott rifled one to almost tap-in range at the par-three 15th. They eventually deliver a 7-under 65 to finish on 11 under and tied ninth with Ireland.

“It was nice to finally see a few putts drop and some red numbers on the leaderboard. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t start that on Thursday,” Leishman said.

Wales pair Bradley Dredge and Stuart Manley, in the first group onto the course, redeemed themselves after Saturday’s horror 80 with a flawless 9-under 63.

England’s Chris Wood and Andy Sullivan, who tumbled down the leaderboard after a leaky back nine on Saturday, also bounced back with a 7-under 65.

Canada’s David Hearn and Adam Hadwin finished tied for 11th with New Zealand’s Danny Lee and Ryan Fox at 10-under.

Germany’s Alex Cejka and Stephan Jaeger, equal last in the 28-team competition at the halfway mark, hit back with a closing 64 to finish on 9 under and tied 13th.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first and, hopefully, annual World Leaders Golf Tournament Presented by Those Who Hope to Live to See Tomorrow.

The first tee is a sight to behold.

The contents of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s bag are reminiscent of that of Rodney Dangerfield’s in the movie Caddyshack, although his caddie certainly is of a different ethnic background than Dangerfield’s was in the movie.

Despite Trump’s best efforts, hundreds of spectators have managed to manoeuvre around the wall he had constructed around the golf course. Among them was Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto who just managed to make his tee time.

In the parking lot, tournament officials had to alert Justin Trudeau and Vladimir Putin about the dress code when they arrived. Neither was enthusiastic about wearing a shirt at all, let alone one with a collar. Trudeau elected to go with a “sunny days” motif tank-top while Putin chose to have a shirt-like tattoo engraved on his torso with a golf tee and a Sharpie. Red, of course.

British PM Theresa May appeared briefly at the starter’s tent but left when she sighted participants from the European Union. British fans appeared about evenly divided on her exit, but she left nonetheless.

North Korea’s Kim Jung-Un had been sighted firing suspicious, non-approved test balls on the range but, when approached by tournament officials, headed for the nearest bunker.

By luck of the draw (not popular vote), Trump hit the first tee shot which sailed, appropriately, far right and out of bounds. “This game is rigged!” he exclaimed immediately.

Despite the initial furor, all the players headed down the first fairway. When the final putts were holed on 18, hands were shaken and everyone headed to the 19^th hole to enjoy a beverage or two and work everything out.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, back to reality.

In the famous words of P.G. Wodehouse: “To find man’s true character, play golf with him.”

Imagine a world where everyone, state leaders chief among them, led their lives according to a code of conduct with which all real golfers are familiar. A code in which equity and fairness are paramount. Where “out of bounds” is clearly defined and where fair play is applauded.

Just imagine.

On my bookshelf is Stephen Potter’s The Complete Upmanship. Subtitled “The Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating,” I would suggest that politicians, full of mendacity, prevarication and obfuscation, are summa cum laude graduates of Potter’s school and instead would do well to study the Rules of Golf as they apply to life.

Section 1 of the Rules of Golf deals with etiquette, the spirit of the game, consideration of other players, preventing unnecessary damage and, significantly, penalties for breach. It shouldn’t be difficult to extrapolate those principles to daily life.

This is not to say that golf is without its own share of warts; misogyny, racism, and ageism among them. Not everyone plays by the Rules. But I submit that once those first tee shots are struck, the focus shifts from that which makes us different to that which binds us together—the love of the game.

Trump may not like this reference but thanks to the handicap system and its wide accessibility, golf is the most “democratic” of sports. It also, as Wodehouse posits, reveals much about not only others but oneself.

Sometimes, it takes a lifetime to figure that last part out. But that’s just another reason why it’s called “the game for a lifetime.”

As Carl Spackler (Bill Murray’s character in Caddyshack) said about his blessing from the Dalai Lama: “’When you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.’ So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.”

Hopefully, it doesn’t take all of us until our deathbeds to become conscious, to get an inkling at least, of how a civil round of golf, with its code of conduct, can be a metaphor for life.

Could Trump, with his connection to the game, eventually understand that? Could his peers around the world?

In the spirit of the game, and for the sake of the world, let’s hope so.

Craig Hocknull pulled away from the pack Thursday at Port Royal Golf Club in Bermuda, winning the PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada presented by Titleist & FootJoy.

Hocknull’s three-day total of 4-under, 209 (74-69-66) was five shots better than Brian Hadley, who held a slim one-stroke lead heading into Thursday’s finale. The PGA of Canada’s No. 1-ranked player Dave Levesque finished alone in third at 3-over for the championship.

“This is just an awesome win,” Hocknull said. “Last year I came close to winning this championship and I wanted to make sure that this year in Bermuda I walked away as the winner.”

The 41-year-old’s final round at Port Royal featured an impressive seven birdies and just two bogeys. His 5-under-par round was the lowest by any competitor all week.

“It really all started to click for me on No. 7 when I made a nice two-putt birdie, then I birdied the ninth and really just kept it rolling from there,” Hocknull said.

Lindsay Bernakevitch and Gordon Burns rounded out the top five, finishing T4.

In addition to the 54-holes of championship golf, PGA of Canada members were treated to a number of off-course events as well, such as a players’ reception Sunday event at the Fairmont and a skins game shootout on the world renowned par-3 golf club at Turtle Hill on Monday after the practice round.

Hocknull said he thoroughly enjoyed his first Bermuda experience this week.

“It’s just been a fantastic week here in Bermuda,” he said. “Everything and everyone has just been first class and I’ve really enjoyed my experience here.”

The Inter-Zone Team Championship, which is comprised of four players per zone (and three scores per team counting), was handed out on Wednesday. Team Ontario (Hadley, Burns, Danny King and James Skrypec) captured the title, besting the squad from British Columbia by 18 shots.

Designed by world-renowned architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1970, Port Royal underwent a significant renovation in 2009, which included a complete redesign. Port Royal is one of the world’s premier daily-fee golf courses with immaculate course conditions and sweeping ocean views from nearly every hole. The most memorable feature of Port Royal is the signature par-three 16th hole, a classic Trent Jones work of art, marrying the natural features of the land with the designer’s boundless imagination. Widely regarded as one of the greatest par threes in golf, the 16th is a 235-yard crescent-shaped masterpiece, showcasing breathtaking views of the clear blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Port Royal hosted the PGA Grand Slam of Golf from 2009-2014, seeing such winners as Adam Scott, Ernie Els, Martin Kaymer, Padraig Harrington, Keegan Bradley and Lucas Glover.

Former champions of the PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada include Danny King, Adam Chamberlain, Roger Beale, Norm Jarvis, Gar Hamilton, Bob Panasik, Yvan Beauchemin, Graham Gunn, Ken Tarling and Brian Hutton.

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